Garment shortening apparatus



July 19, 1938. H. ZWEIG ET AL 2,123,873

GARMENT SHORTENING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 18, 1937 k ila 7% I INVENTORS d HERMAN ZwE1G m BHENRY ZWEIG ATTORNEY Patented July 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,128,873 GARMENT SHORTENING APPARATUS Herman Zweig and Henry Zweig, New York, N. Y. Application November 18, 1937, Serial No. 175,213

shall comprise of few andsimple parts that are readily assembled to provide a compact structure attachable to dress formsof conventional constructions, which shall be easily manipulated for accurately trimming or leveling the bottom of garments fitted on' such dress forms to a desired height from the floor, which shall be inexpensive to manufacture, and which shall be ellicient and practical to a high degree and use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and of which the scope of the application will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one illustrative embodiment of this invention,

Fig. 1 isa perspective view of a conventional dress form having a garment such as a skirt fitted thereomand the garment shortening apparatus constructed to embody the invention, applied thereto for shortening the bottom of the skirt.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the improved garment shortener as seen along lines 2-2 in Fig. 1, showing parts thereof in section to expose the interior construction.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view as seen along lines 3-3 in Fig. 2, showing the adjustable means for retaining the scissors in a fixed position, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, I0 denotes a dress making or tailoring apparatus constructed to embody the invention. Said apparatus I0 is shown in Fig. 1 applied to an upright pipe stanchion II of a dress form I2 on which a garment I3, such as a dress, skirt, or three-quarter or full length coat is hung.

Said apparatus Ill is preferably made with a swiveling member I4 removably attachable to said stanchion II, and as here shown, said member comprises of a split two-part tubular portion Ila of circular cross-section hinged together, as at Ilb, and releasably locked closed by any suitable means, such as spring latch Ilc so that said member portions I la may be unlatched, swung open, applied, closed to embrace the stanchion II, and then locked I in position to provide swiveling movements for the apparatus chion II. v

If desired, the lower ends of the two parts of the split tubular portions Ila may be formed with flanges Ild which act as a seat for resting on the top'end of acushioning spring I5, said spring being usually provided on the lower end of the stanchion II above a pedestal or base I6 to serve as a shock absorbing means should the form I3 accidentally drop down along the stanchion II on being released by loosening wing nut clamp I2a for height adjustment of the dress form in the well understood manner. Where a spring I5 is not provided, the lower flanged end lid of the member Il may be rested on the top side of the pedestal I6 or on a suitable collar (not shown) on which the swiveling of the apparatus Ill about the stanchion II takes place.

The axis of member I4 being vertically disposed, has rigidly secured thereto near the upper end thereof. a horizontally disposed extensible arm Il comprising, as seen from Figs. 1, 2 and 4, of a sleeve portion Ila with a bar Ilb, telescopically fitted therethrough, slidably supported in said sleeve for free rectilinear movement. The end of the bar Ilb which extends beyond the sleeve Ila carries a holder Ilc. If desired, a brace Ild may be provided to extend from the outer end of the sleeve Ila to the lower end of the member I4v for increasing the rigidity of'the overhang of said sleeve Ila.

The holder Ilc serves to adjustably support a vertically extending rod I8. The upper end of the rod I8 maybe provided with a fitting I9 for rotatably mounting a suitable cutting means, such as apair of scissors 20. Between the holder I10 and the rod I8 there may be provided for adjustably retaining the rod I8 in the holder Ilc a releasable clamping means, such as a wing-nut set screw of any conventional construction, or as shown in Figs. 2' and 3, a spring pressed pawl or dog Ile which normally engages rack teeth I8a provided in rod I8 and can be disengaged from said rack by pressing a finger piece Ilf in the well understood manner, so that the rod I8 may be adiusted for raising or lowering the height of the scissors 20 with respect to the holder Ilc of the arm Il.

In practising the invention with apparatus I0 I0 on said stanconstructed of the assembled parts above described, the detachable member I4 is applied to the stanchion ll of any conventional dress form II, as shown in Fig. 1, so that said apparatus l0 freely swivels about said stanchion II. In attaching the apparatus l 0 to the stanchion i l the latch lie is released and the tubular portions Ila are swung open on the hinge Ilb to permit the embracing oi the stanchion ll between said portions a. The latter are then swung; closed and the latch locked to retain the member I for swiveling on the stanchion i I.

The clamping means retaining the rod l8,to

the holder l'lc may next be released by disengag-' ing the dog I 1e from the rack ltajgon pressing finger piece I If and the rod [8 is adjusted to the desired height for trimming the bottom of the garment I 3 on the i'orm;-|2.-;This adjustment, on release 0! said finger piece l'l'f, retains the scissors 20 at the desired height and against any accidentalup. and down movement-for trimming the bottom 01 the garment l3. Nowmanipulating the scissors 20, which are pivoted on the fitting l9, and swiveling the apparatus ill on the stanchion ii, the bottom of the garment I3 can be readily and easily trimmed to the desired height-or level. Since the telescoping arm I! is constructed so that the bar ilb freely slides in and out of the sleeve lla the contour of the garmerit 13 can bereadily followed either by rotating the form l2 withthe garment I} about the stanchion l I and simultaneously telescoping the arm "for moving and operating; the cutting by the scissors 20 to follow the contour of the garment bottom, or the apparatus Ill swiveled about the stanchion. II, with the dress form I! kept in a relatively stationary position and concurrently operating .-the cutting with the scissors 20 and sliding the .bar: "b in the sleeve IIa to follow the contour, of, the garment bottom. It is thus seen that inproviding the apparatus ill with a swiveling support on the stanchion l l and also mounting .the scissors 2| on a pivot retained at a desired level, yet permitting simultaneously with any swiveling or pivoting movement the in and out sliding movement of the arm II, the operation of the scissors Zli may be guided with respect to the garment It on the form- 12 and the bottom may betrimmed without disturbing the natural hang of the material making up the garment II.

. The application of this invention as above described is particularly :well suited for garments or sheer or loosely woven material, or garment materials having bottoms cut on a bias.and is adapted for use in manufacturing establishments in quantity production of garments, as well as for trimming bottomsof individual garments, as in custom tailoring and dressmaking.

It will thus be seen that there is provided apparatus in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An apparatus or the character described comprising a swivel mounting, an extensible arm supported by said mounting, a height adjusting holder terminating said arm, and a material cutter pivotally secured to the carrier, said swivel mounting, extensible arm, holder and cutter being so-constructed and arranged to permit concurrent swiveling or said mounting with the shortening and lengthening of the arm on swinging and manipulation of the cutter.

2. A garment bottom leveling apparatus comprising a swivel attachment, extensible means carried -by said attachment, a scissors, pivotal means for mounting said scissors adiustably mounted on said extensible means, said apparatus being so constructed and arranged to permit manipulating the scissors to follow during a cutting operation the contour of the bottom of a garment fitted to a form to which the said apparatus is adapted to be applied.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 in which the swivel attachment of said apparatus includes a releasable locking means to facilitate the detachable mounting of said apparatus in eiiective position on the stanchion.

4. In combination with a dress form stanchion, of a member swivelly attached to said stanchion, an extensible arm supported by said member, and adjustable means for pivotally mounting a pair or scissorscarried by said arm, said extensible arm comprising a bar and sleeve forming a free-moving telescoping structure, said adjustablemeans and extensible am being so constructed and arranged to permit the simultaneous sliding movements between the bar and the sleeve and the swinging of the scissors on manipulation of the latter for cutting operations.

5. In combination with a dress form stanchion, of a member swivelly attached to said stanchion, an extensible arm supported by said member, and adjustable means for pivotally mounting a pair of scissors carried by said arm said member including means for detachably securing the member to said stanchion. said extensible arm and adjustable means being so constructed and arranged to permit concurrent swinging of said member on said stanchion, sliding movement between the bar and the sleeve, and swinging oi the scissors on manipulation of the latter for cutting operations.

6. Thecombination defined in claim 4 in which said member includes means for detachably securing the member to the stanchion.

HERMAN ZWEIG. HENRY ZWEIG. 

